Queen of Jordan Opens Pan-Arab Conference

Royalty graced the streets of Cambridge on Thursday when Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco gave speeches to crowds in Harvard Law School’s Wasserstein Hall during the opening night of the seventh annual Harvard Arab Weekend Conference.  During her speech, Abdullah argued for the importance of education in creating a more positive future for the Middle East as well as changing perceptions of the region.

Following Abdullah’s speech and a short intermission, Hicham spoke about the importance of reclaiming the Arab Spring, and answered questions from the audience.

Abdullah’s speech served as the opening remarks of the conference, which will feature various panels and keynote speakers that highlight issues facing the Arab world today. Hosted entirely at the Law School, the theme of this year’s conference is “Cherish, Challenge, Change.”

Abdullah said Arabs find themselves in an unavoidable cycle where people tend to only see the negative side of their culture.

“Pessimism doesn’t change reality. It elongates the status quo,” Abdullah said. “Optimism, coupled with faith, can change reality.”

At the heart of her message was a call to her peers to help produce a “new Arab world,” a world which she said could only be achieved by actively making efforts to create change.

Specifically, Abdullah encouraged the participants of the conference to invest efforts into a new Arab system of massive open online courses which have previously not existed in the Arab language. During the conference, she announced the launch of these MOOCs as part of a larger effort called Madrasati, a public-private partnership aimed at renovating needy public schools.  A strong advocate for education, Abdullah explained that this revolutionary practice could be one of the tools needed to transform learning in the Middle East.

“Education is not a panacea for all our ills,” she said. “But done well, education is perhaps the greatest equalizer.”

Many audience members said that they were inspired by her optimistic message.

“She was very motivating,” said Asma Ajroudi, an Arab foreign exchange student from Northwestern University. “But as [Queen Abdullah] said, it’s one thing to say and another thing to do.  We should actually go out there and make change happen.”

The Harvard Arab Weekend, which is the largest pan-Arab conference in North America, is seeing its highest level of attendance to date with over 800 attendees. It is organized and put on by the Harvard Arab Alumni Association with assistance from a large group of student volunteers.

Event organizers said they hope the four-day weekend will provide an outlet for self-expression and exploration for participants.

“Our main goal is for attendees to leave with the positive message and be able to make a positive impact on our world,” said Nour O. Alnuaimi, Harvard Arab Weekend co-chair and a graduate student at Harvard Business School.

Yazane Alaily, Alnuaimi’s co-chair and a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School, echoed this sentiment.

“We want to acknowledge the good things taking place, but also challenge the assumptions of our own identities and how to change them,” Alaily said.